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On Digital Distribution For Games - Does It Work?

Posted by simoniker on from the bits-and-cds dept.

Thanks to The Hollywood Reporter for its article discussing whether digital distribution can really work for videogames. The piece focuses on NP Cube, developers of PC MMO Dark And Light, who are based on the tiny Reunion Island, east of Madagascar, and intend to distribute free versions via "a peer-to-peer site", before charging a monthly fee later. Co-founder Laurent Paret argues of online distribution: "It's so much more cost-effective than signing a contract with a publisher... One peer-to-peer company wants to charge us $300 a month to distribute 'Dark And Light.' I have no idea how they can charge so little and I'm not asking." However, Mark Jacobs of Mythic Entertainment disagrees with the approach, suggesting: "I know they think they can make up some of their development costs earlier if they distribute online [thus getting higher profit margins]... But they're sacrificing long-term profits for short-term gains."

5 of 43 comments (clear)

  1. Ragnarok Online does this... by feidaykin · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Ragnarok Online is an MMORPG with ~$12 monthly fee. However, they don't make you buy a disc. Not only can you download the client for free, but you can play free for 15 days. And that's free, as in, they don't ask you for a credit card number or anything until your 15 days are up. I wish more games followed this model! Seems to be working great for them, but maybe the rules are different when you're based in Korea? ;)

    --

    "To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit." -Stephen Hawking

  2. wave of the future? by Lord+Dreamshaper · · Score: 2, Interesting

    you can download a game direct from creators, official/unofficial mirror, or better yet save bandwidth expenses and P2P it. All you would pay for is the unique activation file the creators e-mail you upon confirmation of receipt of payment. You've got tangible game, they've got your money. You paid less than retail for comparable game, they made greater profit margin by direct-selling. If you can't/won't do that, they mail you a CD for slightly higher price, probably at or below retail prices...It's like Led Zeppelin never having real success on commercial radio...if you're good enough, you don't need traditional marketing paths...

    --
    When all of your wishes have been granted, many of your dreams will be destroyed - Marilyn Manson
  3. I would do it by Dan+Farina · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I certainly would buy/download my games. As aforementioned, it's easier to replace lost/broken copies, CD-keys easier to look up, and is simply a lot less hassle than going to your local store.

    A couple of examples of pay-for-download games that have done alright:

    Savage: http://www.s2games.com
    Escape Velocity: http://www.ambrosiasw.com/news/

    P2P is simply another method of distribution: are we really talking about P2P as a way to lower the cost barrier to distribution, or about the larger idea of selling games via download in general?

  4. It took them this long? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'm stupified that it's taken this long for people to realise that this is going to be the future. Sell your product for less with online, Bit Torrent style distribution, and give them a key (works especially well with MMOG's because folks have to store the characters on their server, so they HAVE to pay sometime), but most folks will be happy to burn the distro and pay for a license. When I first heard about Valve and what they were going to do with STEAM, I thought it would be like this. I see now that they're taking the old route; or maybe I misread their intent; either way, selling bits of plastic wrapped in paper is moronic for the vast majority that will be happy to get it at home (think BT style distribution that has a download resume thingy for the dialup folks).

    All this truly makes me wonder what will happen to the dedicated retail gamestores (EB, GS, ETC) of the world - the publishers will still have money, people will still buy hardware and software (thinking further down the road here - xbox 2's remote storage and PS3's wifi capabilities all point to digital distribution) - gamers will still buy games, and new game companies (and older, less successful ones) will still want a publisher to $$seed them. The only ones who would seriously be left in the cold would be the game stores... Sony is going to push Hotspot capability on the PSP (think about going to $tarbuks to play a few rounds of games with friends local and far away - and guzzle some mochas while your there) - look at the specs and google it. Tho UMD may prevent that in the end.... I'd like to know if the format is going to be accessable - linux distro, it's got wifi & usb2.0 so you could bring a ( w/ a
    USB to bluetooth adapter) and a Bluetooth mouse (keep the BT connected to your phone also) and do some browsing online, troll slashdot... hey, for all you know, this message is from 2 years in the future, I'm typing this on my laser keyboard (I keep seeing pictures but where can you buy them?) connected to my PSP while slurping an iri$h cream Mocha(TM).... oh god the troll police are coming! /runs/

  5. It works in China by taweili · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Most of online games distributed in China are via online download. Piracy of games is around 95% in China and most companies are not likely to even recover the cost of packaging/shipping/logistic/warehouse cost of packaged software. Plus, online games depends on subscription revenue instead of package sales. In fact, China's vast piracy network actually does a favor for the online game distribution by selling the online game's disc for about 80 cents for those who are too lazy to download the games.